The observation was made during the court's hearing of a habeas corpus petition filed by Suman Molla, who claimed that his nephew Nasir had been detained after his name was removed from the electoral rolls during West Bengal's Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise, despite the fact that an appeal against the removal was still pending.

The petitioner claimed that Nasir was an Indian citizen and not a foreign national by citing his voter identity card, Aadhaar card, PAN card issued by the Income Tax Department, and bank passbook.

Voter identity cards, Aadhaar, and PAN cards are not definitive evidence of Indian citizenship, according to a division bench made up of Justices Debangsu Basak and Ajay Kumar Gupta.

The bench noted that Nasir's name had been removed during the 2026 SIR procedure, pointing out that a voter identity card simply proves that a person was registered to vote.

Additionally, the court ruled that creating a bank account does not prove Indian citizenship on its own.

"Writ petitioner and the detainee are unable to discharge the burden of proof as mandated by the Immigration and Foreigners Act, 2025," the court observed.

The court dismissed the habeas corpus petition, stating that it was not inclined to interfere with the authorities' decision because neither the petitioner nor the detainee had proven Nasir's Indian citizenship.

The bench stated that Nasir is presently being held in a detention facility after being arrested on June 18, 2026, in compliance with a Ministry of Home Affairs notification dated May 2, 2025.

It said that a detainee has 60 days to prove their Indian citizenship under the circular. According to the court, Nasir had not shown any documentation proving his citizenship as of the July 20 judgment date. Additionally, the bench allowed the petitioner's attorney to use a state-provided phone to communicate with Nasir.

Nasir stated in the interview that his parents had passed away in India. However, the court pointed out that despite Nasir's assertion that his parents had passed away in India, he was unable to pinpoint their last resting place or the place they were buried.

"We enquired of the parents of the detainee in order to direct DNA testing if the writ petitioner agrees, with the mortal remains of the parents in order to establish that the parents of the detainee were in India," the bench noted. It added, "Since the detainee and the writ petitioner refused to identify the places where the mortal remains of the detainee's parents are lying, we draw an adverse inference as against the detainee with regard to his parents being Indian citizens."

The petitioner was viewed negatively by the court, which noted that Molla had not approached it with clean hands. In a written complaint to the police, he identified himself as Nasir's cousin, but in the writ petition, he claimed to be the detainee's uncle.

The petition added that Molla had raised the detainee after Nasir's father passed away in 1980. However, the court pointed out that the detained is 46 years old and the petitioner is 38. The petitioner's argument that he had raised Nasir as his uncle was dismissed by the bench.

Speaking on behalf of the Centre, counsel stated that a detention order against Nasir dated June 18, 2026, stated that an investigation, questioning, and confirmation of his citizenship had determined that he was a citizen of Bangladesh.